Family Box

“We have learned that to raise a happy, healthy and hopeful child, it takes a family, it takes teachers, it takes clergy, it takes business people, it takes community leaders, it takes those who protect our health and safety, it takes all of us.

Yes, it takes a village to raise a child.”
Hillary Clinton

Family Box is something between a playground and a kindergarten, being used both by children ad adults. It hosts different kinds of activities, from swimming, playing games to various classes ranging from music and crafting to cooking. Further more there is a big playframe, a bookshop and a generous café area.

The different size and height between adult and child was the starting point for considering Family Box should be made by two types of spaces: a kids-scale space and an adult-scale space. How to find an inspiring balance between them? How to combine the different needs?

Despite the complex program another challenging part of this project was to deal with an existing structural system and column grid and also the building footprint – due to the involvement of another design firm in an earlier project stage. The rigid concrete structure of the building did not seem the most suitable for our purpose, so we decided to counterbalance that in different ways.

When we entered the design process, the two upper floors where not yet constructed – an opportunity for us to make the building more kids’ friendly: we decided to shift floor plates up and down and also cut out the floor in some areas to allow views between the floors.

The various activities are enclosed in freestanding boxes: this allows them to run parallel and it offers the most suitable environment for each. Their layout is meant to break the rigid layout of the concrete columns, which is also camouflaged with a series of arches that give a different rhythm to the environment.Visually, the common areas are treated with low contrast finishes in order to enhance and balance the space and equipments for the children.

The glass facade has a printed pattern. The graphic motif is reversed: the background is translucent and the drawing is transparent.
The surrounding landscape is designed using pre-fabricated concrete tiles. Their displacement follows the facade grid creating a continuity between vertical and horizontal surfaces and merging smoothly the access path to the park. They do not follow a flat surface, since placed on a hilly ground.

Project Name: Family Box
Location: Beijing, China
Client: Children Enterprise (UK) Limited /北京家盒子文化有限公司
Architect: crossboundaries architects, Beijing
Site area: 38,000 sqm
Building Footprint: 4,000 sqm
Gross floor area: 5,500 sqm
Design period: August 2008 – February 2009
Construction period: August 2008 – December 2009 (1st phase)

“我们知道，培育一个快乐、健康、充满希望的孩子，需要许多人的努力——家庭、老师、神职人员、商人、社区领袖等等，需要给予我们健康和安全的人，需要我们每一个人。的确，培育一个孩子需要所有人的努力。”
——克林顿·希拉里

家盒子的定位介于游乐场和幼儿园之间，同时为成人和孩子提供一片天地。在这里，会有不同的活动——游泳、游戏，以及涵盖音乐、手工、厨艺等内容的课程班，乃至一个巨大的攀登架、书店和宽敞的咖啡休闲区。

成人和孩子不同的身体尺度感是我们设计的出发点，家盒子应该同时具有两种尺度的空间。但是，如何富有创意地平衡两者，如何完美地结合这两种尺度的功能呢？

除了复杂的功能要求外，这个项目中的另一个挑战是处理已有的建筑结构和已存在的建筑边线。在我们介入之前的项目更早期阶段，已有另一家公司完成了建筑的主要结构。规矩的柱网似乎与我们的设计想法大相径庭，我们需要用不同的手法抵消它们的均质感。

我们开始设计时，建筑的上两层楼面尚未开始施工，这对我们来说是一个使建筑变得更为亲近孩子的机会。我们决定把楼板上下错位，并在楼板的一些位置上开洞，使视线能够穿越楼板。

我们把多种多样的活动装进各自独立的盒子，以使它们能够不互相干扰并拥有各自适合的空间。它们的布局打破了混凝土柱网的严整规矩，另外，装饰性的拱造型也赋予了空间多变的节奏。大众的区域被处理成视觉反差较小的效果，目的是强调和平衡孩子使用的区域。

玻璃幕墙上印有以孩子的涂鸦为主题的图案。涂鸦的背景是半透明的，涂鸦是透明的。

建筑周围的景观使用预制的混凝土砖作铺地。铺地的错位延续立面的网格，使水平向和垂直向上都保持一致。建筑和旁边的公园有小径连接，由于建筑在一个小坡地上，小径也随之有高低起伏。

项目名称：家盒子
项目位置：中国北京
项目业主：北京家盒子文化有限公司
设计方：北京科罗思邦建筑设计咨询公司
基地面积：38，000平方米
占地面积：4，000平方米
总建筑面积：5，500平方米
设计时间：2008年8月至2009年12月（第一期）